Do you keep them, destroy/delete them, lock them away? What are you doing with your photos of your old self?

Personally I’m a bit torn. On one hand I want to keep them because they are still memories, on the other hand I never want to see them again. So I will probably lock them away/archive them somewhere.

But what about you?

  • Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    3·
    4 months ago

    I was given a curated book full of them, it was well intentioned and I do appreciate the effort my mum put into it, but making the title “Deadname to Sasha” fucking stings lol

    It’s frankly next to impossible for me to look through, lots of dysphoric photos and the photos of me young just make me resentful of having gone through first puberty, my body is so damaged…

    It just sits there, but I’ll probably never let anyone look at it including myself

    • dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      oof, I could imagine my mom doing this to me. I think it would hurt especially for all the ways it would make me feel alienated, as it communicates my mom really doesn’t understand me or my dysphoria (and worse, wouldn’t care about how I feel or how it impacts me, as though the book would be more about her own desires than mine).

      That said, I could imagine someday producing my own transition album like that and I could imagine that being powerful, so I think the fact that someone else would make it for me is part of what would bother me.

  • marcie (she/her)@lemmy.mlEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    I’ve kept them and look at them every now and again to cheer myself up, I like seeing how far I’ve come

  • BootyfulBoy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    I’ve been trying to decide that myself. Even though my first thought is, “That’s not me,” when I see my old photos, I feel I should leave them out there for people/world to see. Part of it is not wanting to feel like I’m hiding my past and the other part is to maybe help others realize they can do this, too. And/or show my less open-minded friends and family that transitioning isn’t a bad thing.
    Idk how successful I’ll be with that last one, but I feel I should at least try.

  • Cloaca@mtgzone.comEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    I’d go the route of archive and revisit if you feel you can some number of years from now. Most of my friend group growing up hated getting photographed, so I don’t have a huge portfolio. That said now that I am married and have started to have kids it is nice to be able to look at photos with my partner.

    One of my close friends I’ve known since grade school had started HRT within the last year or so. Every now and then she sends selfies of where she is at and how far she came from. For her the old pictures appear to be a point of pride, but I can’t say how many she might have gotten rid privately. Not my place to pry.

    I still hate a number of photos from when I had less exposure to the world, but a good number of photos are of a happy kid raising geese or playing with their cousins.

    From my own experience I’d say I regret deleting/destroying some photos, and past me had been too critical of myself to the point that a lot of memories were never documented. That said some photos are just so opposed to who I am now that they did not justify being preserved any longer.